Sound maker for toys and other devices



March 25, 1952 G. WINTRISS SOUND MAKER FOR TOYS AND OTHER DEVI CES Filed June 24, 1949 FIG. 2. FIGS.

FIG. I.-

4 INVENTOR W 9L4. ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 25, 1952 SOUND MAKER FOR TOYS AND OTHER DEVICES George Wintriss, Summit, N. J assignor to Wintriss Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application June 24, 1949, Serial No. 101,015

Claims. 1

This invention relates to sound makers, sometimes called voices, that are used in dolls and toy animals. In some toys that aremade of rubber or similar material, there are sound makers located at the neck, arm joints and leg joints for obtaining squeaks or other noises from the toy whenever a part of the toy is "squeezed so as to displace air from the part. Similar sound makers are used in horns and other devices for audible effects.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved construction for toy sound makers; and to provide a construction which is compact, rugged and less expensive to manufacture.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sound maker that comprises fewer parts than have been used for sound makers of the prior art. The reduced number of parts make the sound marker of this invention less expensive to assemble, and the construction is more rugged because there are fewer parts that can work loose from one another.

In accordance with one feature of this invention, the sound maker is made with only two parts, and the parts are united with one another by a simple assembly that obtains an integral structure.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear or be pointed out as the description proceeds.

In the drawing, forming a part hereof, in which like reference characters indicate corresponding parts in all the views,

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a reed holder used in making the sound maker in this invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2--2 of Fig. l. a

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of a reed blank use for this invention.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 44 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Figure 2, but showing the complete invention with the reed in assembled relation with its holder.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on the line 6--5 of Fig. 5.

The reed holder shown in Fig. 1 is formed from a simple blank. This blank originally has tabs I l extending in opposite directions as indicated in Fig. 1. In the forming of the reed holder these tabs are bent into substantially semi-cylindrical form so that their free edges are brought adjacent to one another along a seam l2. This gives the reed holder a generally cylindrical tubular end portion IA that is inserted into the opening in the toy or other device through which air will pass to operate the sound maker. The tubular end portion I4 is thus an open seam tube. The expression open seam, as used herein, does not mean that the edges of the seam do not touch, but merely that they are not welded, soldered, or otherwise secured to one another along the length of the seam.

In the preferred construction, the generally cylindrical end portion of the reed holder is tapered in at least one plane; for example, the plane '2-2 of Fig. 1. This taper is obtained by not bending the tabs H as near to at one end of the seam as at the other. The edges of the seam l2 are thus progressively farther apart toward the top of the end portion M. The advantage of the taper is that the sound maker will fit openings of different size. The sound maker openings in toys are often inaccurate in size, but this invention accommodates itself to such variations partly by its taper and partly by bending of the seam edges closer together, the spring tension imparted to the metal by such bending serving to provide a permanent force for keeping the sound maker in position.

{The reed holder has a recessed channel l5 which, in the preferred embodiment of the invention, is of one-piece construction with the tabs H. The die in which the reed holder is formed leaves a continuous flange around the entire edge of the channel 15. This flange may be considered as an end flange I1 and side flanges [8. The side flanges are cut off along both sides of the reed holder near the tabs 1 I so that these flanges l8 are of reduced Width at the regions designated by the reference characters 20. The purpose of these regions of reduced Width is to provide a clearance for tabs 22 (Fig. 3) of a reed 25 which is of such a shape that it will cover the full recessed area of the channel [5.

The reduction in width of the flange [8 at the regions 20 is preferably equal to or greater than the space required for the reed tabs 22 when they are bent down and around the edges of the flanges. In this way the tabs 22 of the reed do not increase the width of the sound maker. Another advantage of the reduced width of the flanges (8 at the regions 20 is that the ends of the reduced Width portions hold the reed 25 positively against displacement lengthwise of the channel, instead of merely relying upon friction to prevent such lengthwise displacement of the reed as would be the case if the tabs 22 were bent around flanges l8 that were of uniform width throughout their entire length.

The radius of curvature of the recesses in the channel l5 of the reed holder is preferably less than that of the cylindrical end portion l2, as is illustrated in Fig. 4. With this feature, the width of the channel, including the flanges I8, is substantially equal to the diameter of the cylindrical end portion 12 formed by the curved tabs II. The width of the sound maker is substantially uniform throughout its entire length.

The reed 25 has a tongue portion 21 and a partition portion 28, the latter being bent up at right angles to the remainder of the reed before the reed is assembled with the holder.

The partition portion 28 of the reed is shaped to close the space that lies below the seam l2 and above the level of the flanges It in the assembled sound maker, as shown in Fig. 5. In the preferred construction, the partition portion 28 extends over the end of the seam I2 also. This makes it unnecessary to have the edges of the seam l2 close together because the partition portion 23 prevents the escape of air along the seam as well as through the space below the seam.

The tabs 22 of the reed are bent downward into the clearance provided by the reduced width of the flanges l8 at the regions 28, and these tabs 22 are then bent inward under the flanges l8, as shown in Fig. 6. In this way the reed is securely connected with the holder at both sides near the lower end of the reed. The partition portion 28, closing the passage through the generally cylindrical end portion M of the reed holder above the reed, compels all of the air passing through the sound maker to travel around the edges of the reed and through the channel l5.

The reed 25 is preferably straight and the channel l5 formed with a slight longitudinal curvature away from the reed so that the free end or tongue portion 21 of the reed is normally spaced a slight distance from the flanges l1 and [8, as shown in Fig. 5. An increase in the normal spacing of the free end of the reed from the flanges l1 and I8 reduces the pitch of the sound produced when air is drawn into the channel [5 around the edges of the reed. This normal spacing is controlled by the shape of the dies in which the channel [5 is formed.

The preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described. It will be understood that changes and modifications can be made, and some features of the invention can be used alone or in different combinations without departing from the invention as defined in the claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A sound maker comprising a one-piece channel element having an edge extending longitudinally along the top of each side of the channel, and having one end shaped to close the end of the channel, and having the other end of the channel open and formed with upward projections that extend for a short longitudinal distance adjacent to and back from the open end of the channel, the upward projections having their upper portions bent inward toward one another to form, with the part of the channel beneath them, a tubular end portion beyond the channel edges and located partly above and partly below said edges, the tubular end portion comprising an open seam tube with a seam having at least a longitudinal component extending in the direction of the channel element and at a location above said edges so that the diameter of the tubular portion can be compressed by bending the projections further inward to flt a holder and to retain the channel in place by friction of the tubular portion against the holder, a reed secured to the channel element adjacent to the tubular end portion, and a partition formed by a bent-up end of the reed and covering the cross section of that part of the tubular end portion which extends above the reed.

2. A sound maker comprising a reed holder having a channel element with an edge and having a tubular end portion of one-piece construction with the channel element, said tubular end portion comprising an open seam tube formed by bent-up projections on both sides of the channel element and with the seam extending substantially longitudinally of the channel element at a location above said edge, a reed secured to the holder in the region where the channel element connects with the tubular end portion of the holder, said reed overlying the edges of the channel element, and said element being curved so that the reed is normally spaced from said edge near the end of the channel element remote from the tubular end portion, and partition comprising a bent-up end of the reed covering the open end of that part of the tubular end portion of the holder which extends above the adjacent edge of the channel element.

3. A sound maker described in claim 1, with flanges extending from the channel element on both sides of the holder and with the reed overlying the flanges and having tabs bent down and under the flanges for securing the reed to the holder at a region adjacent to that at which the flanged edges of the channel meet the end of the tubular portion of the holder.

4. A sound maker as described in claim 2, with each of the flanges having a portion of reduced width adjacent to the region at which the channel element is adjacent to the tubular end of the holder, and in which the reed has tabs on opposite sides of substantially the same length as the reduced width portions of the flanges so that the tabs may be bent downward and under the reduced width portion of the flanges to hold the reed against displacement both laterally and longitudinally.

5. A sound maker comprising a one-piece metal holder formed with a channel open at one end and with the metal bent upwardly to close the other end of the channel, flanges extending outwardly from the upper edges of the channel and across the closed end of the channel, each of the said flanges being of reduced width near the ends of the flanges remote from the closed end of the channel, a generally cylindrical tubular end of the holder formed by projections that are of one-piece construction with the channel and that extend upward along a length of the holder from the ends of the flanges at the open end of the channel, the projections being bent inwardly to bring their edges into confronting but spaced relation to one another along the open seam of the tubular end of the holder, the diameter of said tubular end along at least a portion of its length being substantially equal to the width of the channel portion between the opposite sides of the flanges, which width is substantially uniform along most of the length of the channel portion, a reed extending lengthwise of the channel to the upwardly-bent metal at the closed end of said channel, tabs on both sides of the reed bent downwardly and. un-

der the flanges at the region of reduced width of the flanges, the thickness of the tabs being correlated with the reduced width of the flanges so that the total width of the reed with the tabs bent down is substantially equal to the width of the channel across the flanges where the flanges are of full width, and a partition formed by a semi-circular bent-up end portion of the reed beyond the tabs and in position to close the portion of the opening through the tubular end that lies above the reed, said partition covering also the end of the open seam in the tubular end of the holder.

GEORGE WINTRISS.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 586,356 Dunlap July 13, 1897 586,357 Dunlap July 13, 1897 1,465,675 McIntyre Aug. 21, 1923 1,589,146 Gollink June 15, 1926 1,604,750 Grubman Oct. 26, 1926 2,175,018 Dietze Oct. 3, 1939 2,296,786 Hoefiich Sept. 22, 1942 

